The cost that comes with cyber crimes

Someone paying close attention can understand that the rate of cybercrime is only going up for quite some years now. It might not be as noticeable to others because cybercrime is rarely discussed. Even though it targets gobs of people annually, many people are unaware of its severity. 

Especially in the unfortunate times of the pandemic, cybercrimes showed a record increase in both prevalence and style. Cyber crimes’ cost is estimated to be a lump sum of millions to billions of dollars every year. 

 

Statistics around cybercrime

According to McAfee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), cybercrimes cost 600 billion USD a year. Such a study in 2014 showed that cybercrimes grab 445 billion USD from the global economy annually.

The current statistics are alarming, but the ones predicted for the future are even more upsetting. According to a California-based company, Cybersecurity Ventures, the cost of cybercrimes will escalate up to 10.5 trillion USD by 2025. That’s an insane amount of money for cyber crimes alone. 

Currently, cybercrimes cost almost 0.8 per cent of the GDP. That is 0.1 per cent more than that recorded in 2014. Global businesses are losing nearly one per cent of GDP annually to cybercrime. Imagine the number of opportunities cyberspace could have created with this money. Or how much it could have contributed to the economy. 

Big companies and an average internet user face cybercrime in one form or another. Computer and internet users face up to 80 billion suspicious scans daily. Almost 780,000 records are lost to hacking daily. There are an estimated 33,000 phishing scenarios and nearly 4,000 ransomware every day. 

 

What is cybercrime’s cost comprised of?

The cost of cybercrime includes various factors. In many cybercrimes, there is theft of money. In others, there is theft of intellectual property. In some, data is destroyed or it is damaged.

In such cases, the company has to spend hours fixing the damage. In many instances, companies lose valuable clients. Clients consider the loss of data a breach of their trust, and they need reassurance that it won’t happen again. All this vandalizes the overall image of the company involved. 

Big corporations and chains operate at global levels. When cybercrimes hit them, global GDP is affected. The data lost or damaged is of international importance. Thus all the consequences are worldwide. 

 

Conclusion

Cybercrime is inevitable. With time, cybercriminals are looking for ways to make their work more sophisticated. They are using various techniques to make their job look error-free. Recent cybercriminals are doubted of using methods that are capable of wreaking havoc. 

All you can do is keep yourself updated about the trends in cyberspace. Please stay safe and keep reading our blogs for a simple understanding of what’s new in cyber security. 

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